Carly Rae Jepsen is Our January Cover Girl!

\nHer hit song has 300 million views (and counting) on youtube—and inspired spoofs by Bieber, the U.S. Olympic swim team, and the Harvard baseball team (among others). Carly Rae Jepsen, 27, talks about how her life changed in a year.

Carly's Cinderella story is a modern classic: a singer with dreams of the big time, performing at bars and cafés (and waiting tables) for years, trying to catch her break. The twist: Justin Bieber turned out to be her fairy godmother.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

If The Biebs hadn't been washing dishes at his mom's house near Stratford, Ontario, he wouldn't have caught "Call Me Maybe" on the radio or tweeted about it to his 29 million followers or made a video with his friends (including GF Selena Gomez) lip-synching to the insanely catchy tune. He wouldn't have introduced Carly to Ellen DeGeneres or signed her to his label or invited her to tour with him in front of sold-out crowds around the world. And while Carly has worked really hard to get where she is today, she is not oblivious to the push Justin gave her career.

More From Cosmopolitan

"I never get tired of being asked about him," she says, as she glides around the kitchenette of her tour bus, which is camped next to Justin's outside the Staples Center, in L.A. "I'm forever indebted to him for the lovely boost that he's given me."

But Carly is more than just a teen meme. While Justin may have given her a lucky break, she's tougher and more driven than her candy­pop vocals would suggest. A native of Mission, British Columbia, she started performing when she was just 7 years old. In 2007, at 22, she scrapped her way to a spot on Canadian Idol, even though a lot of friends gave her grief for subjecting herself to the humiliations of a reality show. But with tenacity and a business savvy mind­set, she managed to turn her final three finish on the show to a number one Billboard song that stayed on top of the charts for nine weeks in 2012.

Before Idol, she had a contingency plan. If things didn't work out with music, she was going to become a teacher. But she chucked that safety net as soon as she did Idol. "Once I got my little feet in the water," she says, "I thought, 'I'm capable of doing Plan B, but I want Plan A. So let's just take the scary step and delete Plan B so that there's no other option.'"

Today, Plan A is suiting her just fine. She has segued seamlessly to a crazy-busy, nomadic pop-star way of life. She refuses to believe in jet lag ("Go to bed when you're supposed to and drink a little extra water and you'll be fine," she says) and has embraced living on the road. Her bus is decorated with cozy touches, like vanilla-scented candles and personal photos. She feels right at home on that bus and everywhere it takes her. "When I was a little girl, my parents once asked me, 'Carly, where do you want to live?'" she recalls. "I said, 'In hotels. They leave chocolate on your pillow, and you never have to clean your room.'" Dreams can come true….

Cosmo: At what moment did you know "Call Me Maybe" was not just a hit but a phenomenon?

Carly: Last June in Mexico City. I was there as Justin Bieber's special guest, and I was supposed to come on and sing "Call Me Maybe" and bow out. I get onstage, and there are 300,000 people. I was in a bit of a shock, and by the second verse, I lost my breath for a second… And that was the moment I knew—all 300,000 of them sang my song back to me, and they knew every word!

Cosmo: All of this happened pretty fast, right? Like, less than a year?

Carly: Yeah. This is what I've been chasing since I was 7. I wake up and have to pinch myself.

Cosmo: Seven? Did you know that early that you wanted to be a star?

Carly: I used to go around the house singing, and my parents took notice. They offered me the opportunity to enter a local talent contest when I was 7. That was my first taste of being onstage. I sang "Eternal Flame" and "Beauty and the Beast." I don't think I understood it, but I remember being onstage in the spotlight, feeling totally at home and comfortable, and knowing it was what I was meant to do.

Cosmo: Fast-forward to Canadian Idol. Good experience or terrible?

Carly: I was so nervous about the whole reality-TV-show thing. But I'm really glad I did it. I placed third on the show, but the Canadian exposure aligned me with a team that put out my first CD, which in turn got radio time. So I learned that you should knock on every door and not turn your nose up at any opportunity, because you never know what's going to work.

Cosmo: How competitive are you?

Carly: Everyone says Idol's a competition. And I'm like, "No, no….The real competition is when the show is over. That's when we figure out how to turn this opportunity into a real career." Everyone else was trying to win the show—and the show would've been good to win—but I was looking at those contracts and asking a million questions, like, "Whoa, that doesn't look too fair. You hold all our rights for how long?"

Cosmo: At your audition, one of the judges asked, "You're 21 going on 14?" Is it a help or hindrance to look so much younger than you actually are?

Carly: If people think I look younger, then that's great; I'm stoked. But I turned 27 in November, and when I look in the mirror, I see all the years attached to that face, and I'm content with me.

Cosmo: What about the people who say you dress too young? True?

Carly: I love being as classy and as elegant as possible in my apartment. But when I'm onstage, I can't dance in 4½-inch heels, so I'll generally sport flats. I'm 5 feet 2, so yeah, I'm going to look a little bit more playful. But I don't think that means I'm trying for an age younger than I am.

For more of Carly's exclusive interview with Cosmopolitan pick up the new issue on newsstands Dec. 4.

BONUS: Did you know you can get your monthly issue of Cosmo on your e-reader? It's the same issue you'd buy on the newsstand, but you can flip through it with the touch of your finger. Touch your device below to download. You'll be reading your favorite magazine in just minutes.